Naruto: The Lost Mission
by jewfro
Summary: This story is about a mission headed by Shikamaru and takes place between Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden. They get caught up in a war waged by renegade sound ninja. Will they be able to survive? Or will they be torn apart and die in the fighting?
1. Chapter 1

'How the fuck did I get here?' he thought, as his vision faded in and out of focus. One second he would be looking at a barely lit room, with a doorway in front of him, and to his right was a man dressed from head to toe in black and wearing a white mask, like an Anbu agent, standing at a table with his side turned to his captive and running a wet stone down the length of his katana, and the next second he would see only black. The sound of the wet stone running down the length of the blade sent chills down his spine, and into his very bones…his vision faded, but had it not, he might have noticed a brief flicker of a shadow just outside the arched doorway.

He tried to move, and found that he couldn't. Something was restricting him and looking down he saw the ropes that bound his arms to his mid section. He also noticed, just now, that there were others tied to him. He was weak, and could barely feel his three comrades who were tied to him. One tied directly behind him, and one tied at each side. It was just now that just how tightly they were tied became apparent as he felt his shoulders being crushed, and a sense of claustrophobia swept over him…but his vision faded again, and once again, a shadow flitted ever so briefly on the floor just beyond the doorway.

He tried desperately the reach the kunai holster on his leg, but the bindings were too tight and the ropes dug into his wrist, but he kept struggling. He could feel one of his wrists open up, and a warm liquid began to slowly ooze out of it, dripping down his hand and forming a neat little puddle on the floor. Another shadow flickered beyond the doorway…this time he saw it, but his vision faded a second later.

He knew not how long the darkness that plagued his sight lasted, but it felt like an eternity. He pulled at his hand and was surprised to feel it start sliding out of its binding. The blood continued to drip from his wrist and it might have lubricated his hand just enough to pull free…he pulled desperately, silently, and the darkness began to close in from all sides, but he fought it off with renewed strength as the shadow he had seen and the new chance of freedom sent a rush of adrenaline though him…but it was too late. The shinobi set the wet stone down on the table, turned to face his captive and came towards him. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck,' he thought as the enemy placed the tip of his blade against his throat. The darkness threatened to move in on his eyes again, and he was tempted to submit to its cold grasp…but he desperately fought it off hoping, no, praying that he hadn't imagined the shadows flitting across the floor just beyond the door, praying that they had been real and they hadn't just flitted across his mind, praying to what ever god there may be that this wouldn't be the end and that by some incredible amount of luck there really was someone about to save him…

The blade pressed against his throat a little harder and a thin line of blood ran down his neck. He dare not even swallow, for fear that he would invite the katana to taste more of his blood, and he waited, with bated breath, for the sword to plunge into his throat. 'This was supposed to have been a routine mission' he thought 'why did this have to happen?' The enemy ninja said something, but it was lost on his captive. For his captive was lost in a dreamlike state………..

"Uuuuggghhhhh…" Shikamaru groaned as he heard the beeping of his alarm clock. He threw his hand down on it from his bed, without really aiming at anything, and shut it off. He let his arm fall down to the floor beside his bed, and lifted his face from his pillow. He was greeted at once by sunlight streaming in through his window, and bashing him in the face. He squinted, and returned his face to his pillow, allowing himself to drift off once again to sleep…some number of hours later Shikamaru was awoken by a sharp knock at his bedroom door. "Shikamaru, wake up!" came the shrill voice of his mother. Shikamaru groaned and slid out of bed, keeping his eyes shut to prevent the sunlight from stinging them, and he got washed up, dressed, and left without even looking at his alarm clock.

He headed downstairs and joined his father at the table, "Afternoon son," he said without looking up from his paper.

"Morning dad" grumbled Shikamaru. He plopped himself down in front of the table, dropped his head in his arms, and groaned; "Mom, could I get some cereal?" Shikamaru heard no response.

"Ya know," said his father, "Lady Tsunade sent someone by earlier to say that she wanted to see you at 1."

"Oh, really? And what time is it know?" inquired Shikamaru, still holding his head in his arms.

Shikamaru's dad folded his newspaper, and looked pointedly his watch and hesitated for a few seconds… "It is now 12:55".

Shikamaru jumped out of his seat, smacking his knee on the table and stumbling across the kitchen before regaining his balance, and ran out of the house, muttering a stream of curses as he went. His dad smiled. "Damn kid…"

Shikamaru sprinted down the street, almost knocking several passerby's over, and headed for the building at the far end of the village. It was the Hokage's office, and it loomed over the rest of the village, not as a threat, but as a kind of guardian. The stone faces above the building peered down at the leaf village and even in death the past Hokage's watched over the village and all of its people. Shikamaru kept running, and the sun, which was just starting its long descent from the apex of its rising, beat down on Shikamaru. Sweat dripped from his brow and stung his eyes as he pushed himself to keep running, because if he was late to a meeting with Tsunade…he dared not imagine what might happen.

At last Shikamaru reached the Hokage building, and run up the stairs at the back of building, stumbling near the top, and still stumbling once he unceremoniously burst into Tsunade's office.

Tsunade glared at Shikamaru, who stood in front of her desk, doubled over and trying to catch his breath. Tsunade sat with one leg resting on top of the other, and she tapped a pencil on her desk as she glared at Shikamaru. Her long blonde hair flowed down to just past her shoulders, and the curious teal colored mark on her forehead gleamed in the light. She wore a white shirt that barely contained her large breasts, and a loose fitting green vest emblazoned with her clan's symbol on her back.

Shikamaru suddenly noticed that his Chunin vest was unbuttoned and hastened to button it while he straightened up and looked Tsunade in the eyes for a moment before diverting them down to her desk. 'Shit…I shouldn't have done that' he thought.

As Tsunade's face changed from his usual milky pallor to a fantastic shade of red Shikamaru noticed the others in the room with them. To his left stood Hinata, a shy girl with long black hair and bangs that reached down her forehead. She wore a purple and white sweatshirt, with her clans seal on the shoulders, and standard issue shinobi slacks. Her eyes were all white. She possessed a powerful ocular technique that allowed her to see almost three hundred sixty degrees around her for a great distance when it was activated.

Tsunade's face grew redder still, and to Shikamaru's right stood Sakura and Shino. Sakura was a pretty girl with pink hair that went down to the top of her neck. She wore a pink kunoichi outfit and shinobi slacks. Shino was a rather quiet guy, but despite that, Shikamaru liked him. He was easy to get along with, loyal, and a strong fighter. Shino wore a big grey jacket, with the hood up, and a pair of sunglasses. Shino also wore an abnormally long pair of shinobi slacks. He kept his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

There was another person in the office, someone that Shikamaru didn't recognize. She wore civilian clothes and had brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail with two black sticks protruding from it. She wore a pair of glasses and was tall. Her posture was flawless and she had long legs. The woman nervously pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and looked down at her feet as Tsunade stopped tapping her pencil.

Shikamaru brought his attention back to the Hokage, and he instantly wished that he hadn't. Her face was a scarily deep shade of red, and her eyes locked with Shikamaru's in a cold, hard stare. It wouldn't be accurate to say the Lady Tsunade had a short temper, because even that is too long. To put it simply, Lady Tsunade had a detonation button, and Shikamaru had a dreadful feeling that he had just pushed it…


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as he had locked eyes with Tsunade, Shikamaru had deeply regretted it. Her gaze struck a strange kind of fear in him, one that resonated throughout his whole body, but it was a parent like almost protective sort of fear. It was the kind of fear a child might feel just before a parent yelled at them, or grounded them. 'Protective or not,' thought Shikamaru, 'this is still a drag.'

Tsunade closed her eyes, and breathed deeply, as if trying to calm her self and said through grated teeth; "You were supposed to be here by one. It is now…" she checked the clock on her desk, "1:10. There had better be a good reason for you being late Shikamaru."

"Well…uh…you see M'Lady…" Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck and continued to stumble over his own words before finally uttering, quietly, as if hoping that Tsunade would not hear him: "I slept in a little too late…" 'Jesus,' he thought, 'its only ten minutes.'

The atmosphere in the room was…uncomfortable to say the least. Shino, Sakura and Hinata stared at various objects in the room, all trying as hard as they could to avoid looking at either Tsunade or Shikamaru and the mystery woman had suddenly become very interested with her shoes. "Shikamaru Nara," said Tsunade "How many times have you shown up late to a mission briefing now?" 'Too many to count' thought Shikamaru. Tsunade slammed her fist down on the table, and in a voice that was horrifyingly stern she said: "IF it happens again, I will have you demoted to Genin! Are we clear?"

"Crystal" replied Shikamaru, in as sincere a tone as he could. His sincerity seemed to come across as genuine, as Tsunade's face immediately regained its usual milky pallor, and she poured herself a cup of sake, and sat back in her chair, seemingly relaxed. Even the air in the room changed, and Shikamaru stood as tall as he could, and his three squad mates came to stand on either side of him. The mystery lady also seemed affected by the sudden atmospheric changes, as she came to stand by Tsunade's desk. When the light coming in from the big panoramic windows struck the mystery lady in the face and illuminated her features, Shikamaru couldn't help but notice that she was actually quite pretty. She had big, bright blue eyes that, when Shikamaru looked right into them, had a sort of calming affect on him.

"Shikamaru, Shino, Sakura, Hinata," started Tsunade "this is Sayoko. Sayoko is a diplomat from the Hidden Waterfall Village. She's been here for a while, and the squad that escorted her here was called back to their village. She only has minimal shinobi skills; therefore I'm sending her back with you four as escorts."

Sayoko bowed deeply, "It's a pleasure to meet you all." She spoke with a great amount of confidence, that much was easily discernable. She also spoke with a great amount of sincerity, but whether or not it was genuine was unclear.

Tsunade continued: "It's a routine mission, one that I don't expect any of you to have any trouble with, but Takigakure is about 2 days away, so leave prepared." Shikamaru, you will be the leader of this mission, since you have be Chunin the longest." Shikamaru nodded. "I want you to leave within the hour, so make any preparations you need, then meet Sayoko and I at the north gate at 2."

The group nodded and said in unison: "Yes M'Lady."

"You are dismissed." Said Tsunade, and the four shinobi quickly filed out of the room and returned to their respective homes.

Shikamaru walked in to find his father still reading the newspaper, and his mother no where in sight. "So," said his father "how'd it go?"

Shikamaru groaned "Shitty. She got mad at me again, and it was just ten minutes." His dad looked as if he might say something, so Shikamaru cut him off; "I really can't stay and chat dad…I've gotta pack and be at the gate before 2….looks like I'll be gone 4 or 5 days."

Shikaku grunted in response. Shikamaru packed a week worth of food, just in case, and filled the weapons pouch at his hip with flash grenades, smoke bombs, and explosive tags. He filled the kunai holster on his leg with kunai knives and in the various pouches and pockets on his Chunin vest he put scrolls and shuriken. Shikamaru sifted through a pile of dirty clothes and pulled out a belt that had a short sword and a scabbard on it. He fastened the belt on his waist, and returned downstairs to say goodbye. His father was already gone and on the table where he sat was a note scrawled on a napkin. It read:

Someone came by, had to leave. Good Luck Shikamaru.

–Dad.

P.S. Try not to sleep in so late from now on.

Shikamaru grinned at the note and left. In the back of his mind he wondered; 'Who came by that got Dad to leave to suddenly?'

It was about 1:50 when Shikamaru arrived at the north gate and Shino, Sakura and Hinata were already there. "Hey guys." He said.

"Hi Shikamaru" came the quiet voice of Hinata. Shino merely nodded at him, and Sakura was too preoccupied fixing her pack to make any notice of him.

'Eh, the pretty girls never notice me,' thought Shikamaru. He set his pack down and sat against the village wall. Promptly at two o'clock Tsunade and Sayoko came strolling down the street and arrived at the gate. Sayoko seemed to have prepared a pack of her own. As the Hokage approached them, the four Shinobi formed a line and stood at attention. Tsunade stood before them, arms crossed. "Good luck out there." She said, rather stiffly. Tsunade had never been too good with things like this.

As the four Shinobi grabbed their packs and Sayoko joined them, two Anbu Black Ops agents appeared on either side of Tsunade. Both wore all black outfits with swords on their backs and white masks resembling animals covering their faces. One of them immediately began whispering in Tsunade's ear. Her face remained placid, but when he finished what he was saying Tsunade suddenly turned and bolted back for the Hokage building. Whatever it was that the black ops agent told her, it must have been extremely important. Another Anbu agent jumped down from a building and landed in front of the group as the two who had been speaking to Tsunade left.

"Which one of you is the squad leader?" he said. His voice was remarkably scratchy.

"That'd be me" said Shikamaru, stepping forward.

"Don't take the most direct root to the waterfall village" said the Anbu agent. "There is a renegade group of sound ninja believed to be in the area directly north of the village. A team has already been dispatched to combat them, but we believe they are of Orochimaru's strongest followers. Take the road that deviates a little to the east. It should keep you out of harms way, but it will also extend your trip by at least a day."

Shikamaru nodded, and before he could say "Thanks for the info", the Anbu agent was gone.

The group of five turned toward the gate. "Alright, Shino you take the front. I'll be second with Hinata in the middle. Sayoko, stay behind Hinata and Sakura, you take the rear. Don't break formation. Hinata, keep your Byakugan on at all times and Shino, keep the bugs moving around us. Everyone be vigilant at all times." The others nodded, and the line formed around Shikamaru. Shino ran out of the gate, and the others followed. They all heard a soft buzzing sound as groups of bugs flowed from Shino's jacket and dispersed around them. The veins and muscles in Hinata's face bulged and her eyes grew wider as she activated her byakugan, and the team set out at a brisk pace

Back in the present, the pain in his wrists briefly returned, and the feeling of cold steel on his throat came back to him, and Shikamaru's reverie was briefly interrupted as his captor spoke, but he head not what his captor had said. Shikamaru only noticed that his captor had an unbearably scratchy voice………


	3. Chapter 3

The group of five kept up their brisk pace for the first half of the first day, and they continued on for the rest of day one at a much slower pace. Sayoko, having only a minimal shinobi training, could not keep up at their pace for long. As they group slowed they began to slightly break formation and began walking in a cluster around Sayoko as opposed to a line with her. As the sun began to set, they started looking for a spot to camp for the night, and Shino found small, grassy clearing not far from the road that was blocked from view from the road by a grassy knoll. A half circle of tall pine trees surrounded it.

In the middle of the clearing Sakura built a small fire, arranging the sticks in a cone and stuffing leaves and small twigs in the middle of it before lighting it with a match from her pack. Hinata busied herself gathering bundles of sticks for the night, all the while keeping her Byakugan on, and Shikamaru rolled out all of their sleeping bags. Shino held out his arms as a steady stream of insects flew out of them, and a hypnotic drone reached everyone's ears as the bugs placed themselves on tree branches, rocks, and other things around their little clearing. Once the bugs settled and stopped droning, a peaceful quiet, broken only by the cackling of the fire, pervaded in the clearing. The four shinobi sat on their sleeping bags around the campfire, and Sayoko on the other side of the fire, looking displeased. Her hands rested on her hips, and her lips were pursed in a look slightly reminiscent of Tsunade. She stared right at Shikamaru, who hadn't noticed her glare yet.

"Hinata," he said, "you take first watch." Hinata nodded. "Sakura you've got second watch, Shino take third, and I'll take the early morning watch. That way I won't fall asleep during my shift." His team all voiced or gestured their agreement, knowing full well that with Shikamaru's inherent laziness it really was better if he took the last watch.

"My insects will be out all night, but they aren't perfect," said Shino. This was quiet possibly the first thing he had said all day. The rest of the group sat there, looking attentively at Shino, expecting him to say more. But he didn't. Shino had a way with being awkward.

To Shikamaru's surprise, and after a few moments of rather uncomfortable silence, it was Sakura who responded. "Thanks for the heads up" she said.

'So…' thought Shikamaru, 'she won't even say hi to me, but she replies to one of Shino's awkward outbursts?' Shikamaru pondered it for second, while watching Sakura as she laid down and arched her back, pushing her hips up into the air to stretch. 'There's no way that…Shino can't possible be…he can't be better with girls than I am…can he?' Shikamaru was so lost in thought, and his eyes so transfixed on Sakura, who was now slipping out of her kunoichi outfit and fixing her mesh tank top that he didn't notice Sayoko grunting and trying to get his attention until he felt a burning sensation on his foot…he looked down, and resting on his ankle was a red hot piece of a stick…plucked from the campfire.

"Ahhh, ahhh," Shikamaru screamed and jumped up, kicking the piece of stick off his ankle, "What the hell was that for?" he yelled.

"I was trying to get your attention," said Sayoko, "You should have been paying attention instead of checking out your pink haired friend!"

"I-uh…I…" Shikamaru stuttered, and blushed, having been caught red handed. To his surprise, Sakura seemed to be embarrassed as well. Just before she turned her head away from the scene Shikamaru thought he caught a glimpse of a rather toothy smile. 'Maybe…just maybe…' he thought. Shikamaru returned his attention to Sayoko. The firelight lit up her face from below, casting shadows over her eyes and the contours of her cheeks. Her arms were crossed just underneath her breasts and her posture was stiff, and tense. There was a malevolent look about her. "Is there something wrong?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes, yes there _is _something wrong," she replied, sternly. "I want to spend the night near a river, or a lake or something. I need to bathe."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "No. We aren't moving. This is a perfect spot for us to camp, it's easy to watch and you can't see it from the road. Besides, it's already too late for us to start looking for some other place."

"No!" replied Sayoko. "Get up, all of you, and get moving, and find me a spot where I can bathe!"

The four Shinobi around the campfire stared intently at Sayoko, whose face had turned a dark red in her apparent anger. Shikamaru clenched his fists and closed his eyes for a second, trying to control his anger, and making sure he didn't lash out at Sayoko.

"It's a part of your mission! Go, now!" said Sayoko.

"No." said Shikamaru through clenched teeth. "Our mission is to get your ungrateful ass to the hidden waterfall village safely, and I'll tie you up if that what I have to do! We don't take special requests from you, especially not one that would put me or my team in danger. You'll be fine if you go one day without a goddamn bath." Shikamaru's fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists harder and harder. Sakura had risen to a standing position on one side of him, and Shino on the other. Hinata stood a little ways off to the side, by the pile of sticks she had been building.

Sayoko hesitated a moment, and then, defeated, dropped down onto her sleeping bag, and laid down with her arms crossed against her chest. In a quick movement she pulled her ponytail out and pulled the sleeping bag around her, rolling over on her side she laid their quietly for the remainder of the night.

Shikamaru, Shino, and Sakura all lay down on their sleeping bags as well, and soon all three found themselves asleep. Hinata stayed awake, and sat on a stump on the edge of the clearing, just barely within the firelight. With her byakugan she stared off into the tranquil darkness, and nothing stirred. In the solitude her mind wandered and she began to think off Naruto. She thought about how he might be doing and what kind of fantastic jutsu Jiraiya might be teaching him at this very moment…or maybe Naruto was sleeping? 'Maybe he's dreaming…' she thought. 'What would Naruto dream about?' her eyes wandered around the clearing, and found Sakura. Her heart sank at the thought, but she pushed it from her mind and instead imagined that Naruto would be dreaming of her. Hinata soon found herself lost in thought, with just enough attention diverted to keeping watch that it was unlikely she would miss anything…

And then she heard something, a movement close by, and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She and whirled around ready to strike, but when she raised her hands and took her gentle fist stance, the figure backed up and put up her hands as if saying: "No, don't!" It was a second before Hinata realized that it was just Sakura, trying to tell Hinata that she could go to bed. Hinata blushed and said nervously in her high pitched voice: "S-s-sorry Sakura."

Sakura smiled at her. "You must be tired Hinata. Go to bed, rest up. We have a lot of ground to cover in the morning!" Hinata made her way to he sleeping bag, and fell asleep almost immediately. Sakura sat down on the stump, and wrapped herself in a blanket she had taken from her sleeping bag. She had taken off her kunoichi outfit earlier, and the mesh tank top and underwear didn't exactly keep her warm. Even with the blanket she soon found herself shivering and she rubbed her arms and legs to keep herself warm.

As she stared off into the darkness she soon found herself drifting off into thought. Sasuke was the first thing that drifted into her thoughts, but as she thought of him her heart ached and she pushed him from her mind. Her eyes wandered the clearing and found Shikamaru. Sakura blushed and diverted her attention back to the blackness around the clearing. She leaned forward to the stump, and strained to see into the pitch black of the night. It was no use, and she sat back again, and leaned back on her hands.

As she stared off into the night she heard a rustling in the leaves on the ground and sprang to her feet, raising he fists…


End file.
